Essay On Autopsy

Autopsy. Think of the word autopsy. What does it conjure up in your mind? Corpses? A coroner? Dissection? Finality? Now think of the word window. What denotations or connotations does that hold? Visibility? Discovery? Light slanting in from outside? Does the word window remind you of the word autopsy? No? It should. These two words are etymologically related, as both ultimately derive from the Indo-European root okw- which means “to see” ("The American Heritage Dictionary Indo-European Roots Appendix", 2017). What implications does autopsy have? Probably several, depending on the person, but I’d warrant none are very pleasant. What implications does window have? Probably a little more uplifting. Autopsy is specific and infrequent; only a singular set of circumstances allow appropriate use of this word. Window is ubiquitous: we use it hundreds of times a day, to refer to hundreds of different things. How is it that these two disparate words are actually etymological siblings? What part of their connotations might suggest that they are? If one thinks about it for a bit, it …show more content…
This sensor rests at about ankle-level, on the frame of the wide garage doorway. The sensor activates the overhead light when it detects motion – such as from a car or human – through this doorway. Whenever I come home from school, at around 8 PM or so, the light is off. I always – without even thinking – step over the ankle-high sensor as I walk through the doorway to keep it in its unilluminated state. Nobody else in my family does that. Only I. Whether I am coming in or going out, I always try to keep the light off. “Why do you do always do that?” my mom asks me, laughing. “I have no idea”, I reply. But if I didn’t do it, we would never have had any occasion to discuss the garage light. Maybe this habit makes me a slightly crazier person, but it also makes walking into the house through the garage a slightly more remarkable